Kidnapped
by Squall-is-Cool
Summary: It was silly but Rinoa had always been terrified of being kidnapped, a fear her over protective father failed to improve. How will she cope when SeeD is given the order to do just that?
1. The Proposal

Hey guys, I left my notes at uni for "save the last dance" so wrote a new story over the christmas break. Probably not my best due to not being in the working mode during the end of term break but I hope you like it all the same. I realise it's quite short, I might lengthen it when I have time. I'll update STLD as soon as I've finished the next few assignments, shouldn't be longer than a few days I think.

I don't own ff8...etc but that's a given. R&R:), I'd like to know if it's complete crap after all. **

* * *

Kidnapped **

**Proposal**

"Ok, well I hate to say this but these weekly sessions are getting us no where." Doctor Kadowaki sighed, "We're going to have to find another solution."

Rinoa frowned down at the immaculate cream carpet, watching the shadow of the tree outside the window behind the Doctorr's desk. Doctorr Kadowaki was her psychiatrist; she'd been visiting her every week for years. It was a little ridiculous really but ever since she had been a child, a kid of seven or eight, she'd had this irrational fear of being kidnapped. It had gotten so bad over the years that she was unable to be with a man alone unless it was her father or he was under the age of fifteen because after all with her having turned twenty a few months back someone so much younger was hardly going to inspire fear in her. It was silly but she never even thought that a woman might kidnap her; it never bothered her to be alone with some female stranger. Being closeted away with her psychiatrist was a perfect example. She guessed she just didn't see it as such a frightening prospect. So was she frightened of being kidnapped or frightened of what might happen while being kidnapped?

"Help me to help you, Rinoa." Kadowaki interrupted her thoughts with what appeared to Rinoa as her favourite saying, she was always quoting that "Help me help you" crap. "What do you think will help?"

"I don't know!" Rinoa snapped, she'd never showed anything but meekness during her sessions and Kadowaki sat back in her seat in surprise. "Kidnap me!" Rinoa exclaimed hysterically.

The doctor frowned thoughtfully, "Well that might help."

"What?" Rinoa said blankly, thinking she had missed heard her.

"There was something I wished to talk to you about actually." Kadowaki continued, "There's a new service, designed for those who want sexual thrills admittedly, but I think I could tweak the contract to suit our purpose."

"What?"

Kadowaki slipped a leaflet across the table. Glancing at her Rinoa took it, "So you want to be kidnapped?" She stared, "Again, what?"

"They let you choose your kidnapper and-"

"Well if they let me choose how on earth can it help me! No, this is ridiculous." She sat back in her seat, arms crossed.

"You choose your kidnapper," Kadowaki continued as though she hadn't been interrupted. "They will then randomly kidnap you while you go about your day to day life, admittedly it would be quite a task for them considering you are never alone outside your own home, they will then hide you away. We can change the contract, you are not after all seeking to act out a fantasy, and have them release you after a few hours or so. It might help and if not…well at least it will be a step in the right direction.

"Well I still think we're onto something," she sighed as Rinoa stared at her stonily, "I'll see you next week Rinoa."

Rinoa nodded and climbed to her feet. "Yes, Doctor Kadowaki." She was barely out the door when she heard the doctor dialling on the phone and then her saying, "Sophie, can you hold off my next appointment for ten or fifteen minutes, I'll catch back up during me lunch break, I just need to make a call…an important call, yes…Thanks Sophi-"

Rinoa closed the door softly behind her and wandered slowly down the corridor, occasionally peering into the windows of the offices. One woman was screaming hysterically, another in a mad rage and the very last office she came across had a man in floods of tears.

"Ready to go?"

She turned to see Selphie, her best friend and confidant and also a bodyguard of sorts. She was a SeeD hired by her father so that Rinoa would feel safer. Rinoa didn't see her as a guard though; she was far too friendly and laid back.

"Yes," Rinoa smiled, "Let's go!"

"Ohhh, can I drive?" Selphie asked almost bouncing out the doors and down the stairs to the car.

"Sure, just don't crash my car! I've seen how you SeeD's drive."

"Well then, you'll know we don't crash." Selphie replied smugly as she climbed into the driver's seat. "On to the mall!"

They were at least half way there when Selphie broke the silence, "So how was the weekly three hours of boredom?"

"Same as ever…" Rinoa frowned down at the dashboard, "except she had this weird idea…"

"What? You're kidding?" Selphie said staring at her in shock as Rinoa finished explaining.

"No and keep your eyes on the road, Selph!"

"Hehe," Selphie grinned, "relax, it's under control." Her grin fell soon after though, "So this Dr of yours sounds as though she needs her own counselling. How could she think that that was a good idea? How can she trust a stranger not to really kidnap you, rape you and dump you in some field somewhere!" Her hands had tightened on the wheel almost as though she wished she had her weapon in hand and was standing patiently outside Dr Kadowaki's office waiting for her to finish with a client. Rinoa was just worried that Selphie's fingernails might mark the wheel. "Never mind that," she continued, "how on earth did she come by that leaflet in the first place?"

Rinoa shrugged, "Dunno, maybe she wanted to fulfil a sexual fantasy herself."

Selphie glanced at her and together they burst out laughing. They were still giggling softly as Selphie parked the car as close to the building as possible whilst muttering to herself about how much shopping they would have to carry.

"I saw this gorgeous coat that I really want to…" Selphie said as she and Rinoa entered the shopping centre.

* * *

Doctor Kadowaki watched the door close behind Rinoa Heartilly as she picked up the phone to make another phone call. "Hello? Yes, it's Doctor Kadowaki. She didn't take it to well, I believe she will turn the offer down once she has thought it over…Yes, yes…you have another idea?…Yes, we could try that, it's a little unethical but it could quite possibly be the only cure for her…Shall you handle it or shall I?…Very well, let's hope it works for all our sakes." She hung up the phone. 


	2. The Mission

Hey, totally forgot about this story and with my uni exams approaching fast and being completly addicted to deathnote at the moment I haven't had much time. Needless to say that i dont think any of my stories will be updated until after my exams finish at some point in june, although saying that I might get an early may update in somewhere, possible. Anyway enjoy, and thanks for the reviews.

**The Mission**

Squall frowned down at the floor of the car, arms folded across his knees as he leant forward

Ridiculous. Squall frowned down at the floor of the car, arms folded across his knees as he leant forward. This was absolutely ridiculous. He could understand it if it was a person of importance, someone with high social standing but this was some rich general's daughter. What could they possibly gain…?

He'd read the contract repeatedly; there was no denying that he had the right of it. They, he and his team-mate Seifer, were to kidnap the daughter of a general of Galbadia.

The contractor must just be after a large sum and nothing political or moral. It was strange; Garden usual declined any request that was for such personal gain. Why had this one slipped through the net?

"We're almost there," Seifer said standing, he smirked, "Why don't you go check."

Squall ignored him, his mind retreating into his own world again. How were they going to steal Miss Heartilly right out from beneath her father's nose? He'd read the notes that accompanied the contract extensively. The girl was under twenty-four hour surveillance, there was not one point during her day, that he could see, that she was alone except in the privacy of her own house. She even had a highly ranked SeeD as a bodyguard, which meant that they could spot neither him nor Seifer or they would risk the entire operation. The SeeD was with her from the moment she left her house right the way through whatever outing the general's daughter was undertaking until she was safely back at home again…He frowned, except for once a week when she visited her psychiatrist. _Great, _he sighed, they were dealing with a maniac as well as a SeeD.

"Oi! Leonhart." Seifer growled in annoyance.

Squall remained silent, waiting for the car to slow down and eventually stop altogether.

Deling City was loud and busy. Night had fallen by the time they had arrived. A quick glance at his watch confirmed how late it was getting. Squall peered tiredly around at the well lit and wet streets, his interest caught on a bus labelled number 08' pulling up at a bus stop not far from where he stood.

"Twenty-three hundred hours," Seifer said, "We'll make our way down that street-" He pointed to his left, extending his arm with his gunblade carelessly.

_The idiot, _Squall thought, _of all the people I had to get paired up with…I wish he'd put that bloody gunblade down and keep it out of sight before he scares someone and gets us both arrested. _

"- and find a hotel to spend the night. We'll discuss what plan to take tomorrow at breakfast." His voice was laced with authority, smug authority.

Squall stared at him blankly. He knew Seifer would try to take charge as soon as Cid had said that they were to work together as partners for the case. Because it was just the two of them and not a real "team" neither of them was the "leader". Well, he wasn't going to take any orders from him.

Squall turned away and walked slowly down the street to the bus stop. "Excuse me sir?" He asked, leaning in the bus doorway so that he could be heard over the traffic and rain. "Where does this bus go?"

The driver raised his eyebrows in shock. "Full circuit of the city. Down Deling Street, past the residential palace-"

"Ok, thanks sir. Do you mind waiting a moment?" Squall leant back out the door planning to call back to Seifer only to find he'd followed him. "Never mind." He climbed onto the bus, assuming that Seifer would follow.

Seifer frowned at him, a hint of an amused smirk lighting his face at the same time. "You actually asked for directions," he snorted taking a seat opposite him. "What kind of man are you?"

_The smart kind, _Squall thought in reply, _if we did things your way we'd be soaked and without a room until at least gone midnight. _He watched the streets carefully as the bus drove on. Knowing the city well would be useful in any kidnapping attempt that they were going to undertake. First thing tomorrow he'd need to buy a map, they would need to know the quickest route out of the city were they to succeed in the kidnapping.

He stood; they'd reached their destination. Climbing off the bus they found themselves half way down Deling Street, right opposite a large hotel Squall guessed looking at the lighted sign.

Seifer snorted, it was the only acknowledgement for a job well done he was going to get from him.

* * *

Squall awoke early as usual. He didn't even bother getting dressed but took a seat at the table. They had to get this completely right. She lived at the residential palace, so all they needed was the number 08 bus…maybe. The residential palace…he wondered how guarded it was, one guard on the gate is easily handled. One guard closer to the door would be quite a bit harder. More than one guard-

"Oi! Leonhart!" Seifer banged on the door harshly. "Let me in."

Squall sighed and as he made his way over to the door he pulled a pair of trousers on. "One second."

He grabbed his shirt from the bottom of his bed and opened the door.

"Oh, Hyne's sake! Put a shirt on, please!" Seifer muttered pushing past him into the room.

Rolling his eyes he pulled his shirt on over his head and sat back down at the table.

"Right," Seifer said, turning to sit opposite him, "I say once we kidnap her we bring her here, to this room. Disguise her and high tail it out of here."

"You're getting ahead of yourself." Squall said quietly to the tabletop, "we need to discern how to kidnap her first. When, how."

Seifer snorted, lounging back in his chair, one long arm thrown across the back of it. "Oh?"

"Miss Heartilly does pretty much the same thing day in day out. The only exception being her weekly 3 hour assessment with her psychiatrist."

Seifer snorted, "Psychiatrist! We're dealing with a messed up, snooty bitch then? Great, she better be hot."

"I think its important to note that she is only on her own entirely after entering her house each day."

"And the psycho's office. All people who arrive with you have to wait in the entrance unless they have special permission to come in with you, everyone knows that."

"I wouldn't. I can't say I've ever been to one myself."

Seifer snorted, "Perhaps its time you thought about it. You're one messed up kid."

"Shut it Seifer…I still think that it's a safe bet to sneak into the house, abduct her where and when people will most likely think its impossible. You're more likely than not going to be seen kidnapping her in a building full of paranoid people."

"Fine, fine." Seifer waved his hand in submission. "So, where does the princess live?"

"Residential palace."

"Ohhh," Seifer smirked, "this is going to be fun."


	3. Execution

Right, i wrote this from 12 through to 5 am so don't blame me if there are errors :P, I will catch them tomorrow or when I get a spare moment. I appreciate all the reviews guys :) thanks.

* * *

**Execution**

Rinoa sighed; no matter what she did she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, which, she thought, was completely irrational and ridiculous. She was in her own room and probably the most secure building in all of Galbadia.

Throwing herself back onto her bed she fought the urge to reach for her phone and call Selphie. It wasn't that she wasn't allowed to – she was – it was written in her contract, not that the SeeD and her best friend would deny it of her anyway. But still she was growing tired of being so dependant and needing to be looked after. She wanted to strive for some confidence and independence, to be able to say she can look after herself. So, she thought, she had this one tiny phobia. Big deal, but that didn't have to mean she wasn't a strong person. She was! Though sometimes it felt that she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

Letting out a groan of annoyance she checked the time before picking herself up to go shower before she supposed she should continue studying. Even though her life was greatly altered by her unique lifestyle she still was expected to excel at university by her father. She'd never argued the fact like he expected her to when he'd first brought up the subject. Rinoa looked forward to it actually; some normalcy in her life would do her good. Although, saying that, Selphie accompanied her to most of her classes and the majority of her work was completed in her room.

Wrapped in a towel she returned to her room shortly after and as usual she sat at her dressing table to brush her wet, tangled raven locks before opening her wardrobe door. She froze, staring into the empty cupboard in confusion. Where the hell were all her clothes?

Glancing round the room franticly she wondered if the household staff were playing a joke on her. It would be vastly out of character for them to do so but then there was that new boy who was always smiling cheekily at her...She could see him doing something like this. Right now she was in the right mind to have him fired! However she couldn't go down stairs in just a towel, she reminded herself, no matter how much she wanted to rant and rave at them this very second.

Shaking her head she tried to think clearly. Where might she have clothes? She dashed over to the washing basket only to have her heart sink to find the maid had emptied it recently. She tried her underwear draw next and was grateful to find nothing was missing there. Forgetting her previous paranoia of being watched she dropped her towel immediately and she pulled a random pair of knickers and a bra on, not caring at that moment that they didn't match.

Rubbing her hair with the previously discarded towel to stop the cold drips running down her back she checked her chest of drawers. All three draws where empty except what was that her hand had just touched? Pulling the clothes out with a triumphant yell she stood. Hyne knows how long she'd had these; she didn't even recognise them and were definitely not her style. Her father must have bought them a while back, he was always buying her clothes that she pretended to like before getting Selphie to smuggle them out of the house and return to the shop.

Well, she sighed, it wasn't like she had much of a choice. Rinoa pulled on the plain white fitted t-shirt and grey jogging bottoms as quickly as she could; she was beginning to feel a chill from the cold draught she felt waft through the room. She'd have to check that the balcony door was closed properly, it was always getting jammed. But first, she reminded herself, she picked up her phone and pressed the one key to speed dial her security guard. "Come on, Selphie. Pick up," she murmured before she heard a noise behind her, footsteps. Fear welled up in her instantly, threatening to take over her body, as she attempted to turn to see who was there. The phone fell from her numb fingers as she met resistance. A strong arm was wrapped around her stomach, another holding a cloth over her mouth and nose. With her heart racing and fear coursing through her veins she watched her room dim and blur, her struggles to break free getting weaker as her world drained away to black.

* * *

38 hours earlier:

Squall sighed, whoever had put him and Seifer together in team with no leader must have been high or clinically insane or possibly both he thought wryly. They disagreed on everything and he swore sometimes Seifer was doing it for the sake of it rather than any real disagreement to his suggestion.

"Fine," he said after draining his coffee. "Miss Heartilly will be out of the house from midday to exactly 17:00 hours. She will be..." Squall checked the schedule, "...at Deling University campus."

"So," Seifer leant forward, "What's the deal? We can't exactly jump her on the second busiest campus in the world."

"Security at the residential palace is non-existent when she is not at home."

"What? No guard or anything?"The blonde asked surprised, "Where did you read that?" He pulled the case notes across the table toward him.

"I didn't. I watched the building yesterday while you were following the SeeD. Did you identify her by the way?"

"Didn't recognise her," he shrugged, "looked like a Trabia emblem on her shoulder though, could be wrong. But no SeeD is a match for me." He grinned smugly.

"I beg to differ," Squall replied somewhat distractedly.

"Oh? Need I remind you who gave you your scar? I won't hesitate to give you another!" Seifer smirked.

"Need I remind you who gave you yours?" Squall retorted coldly, "Let's continue..."

Seifer waved his hand, "So no security..."

"Leaves us pretty free to enter the house," Squall concluded leaning back in his chair and folding his arms, frowning down at the table as he thought. How do you enter a building in broad daylight on one of Deling's busiest bus routes? If they weren't careful they could end up with a dozen tourists with photographic evidence of them climbing through a window or something.

"Think it's time for the old gas man trick?"

Squall glanced up momentarily thrown off balance; he hadn't thought Seifer ever read the SeeD material.

"11.6, come on, Leonhart! I thought you knew those books by heart," he shook his head mockingly; "I'm disappointed in you."

"Alright," he replied, ignoring his goading, "So, for planning's sake, you're the gas man."

"I'll produce I.D," Seifer scrolled through the numbers on his phone, "which I'll get with one call."

So, Squall thought tuning out the other SeeD's demands to Garden, Seifer provides the distraction? How would he himself get in? Or more importantly what would he do when he did?

"Right, I'm a gasman as of 11:00am."

"You'll go break something on the boiler; I'll head upstairs and find Miss Heartilly's room where I'll plant the cameras."

Seifer smirked, "So that's a good idea now is it? You were saying it was terrible just five minutes ago."

"I said it wasn't plausible," Squall corrected, "and you wanted to plant them on her!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"We need to know her routine inside her home. There might be something we can use." Frowning he wondered if, since the rest of her life was so routine and structured, her life inside her home ran by clockwork.

* * *

11:30:

Seifer rang the doorbell, waiting not so patiently for it to open. "Hello, ma'am. Routine gas check," he said in a forced cheerful voice once the door opened. "I won't be long, in a rush today."

"Ok, well right this way..." The maid replied taking a step back to let him in.

"Oi!" Seifer yelled, turning to Squall who sat in the hired van attempting to look as though he was minding his own business. "Bring in my tools."

Squall made a show of reluctantly climbing out the van and walking to just inside the door, two bags in hand.

Seifer snatched the black bag off of him and motioned for the maid to lead away.

"I'll wait in the van." Squall called after them, closing the door behind him with a slam. Knowing he didn't have much time he hurried up the stairs. Pressing his ear against random doors before opening them he slowly began his search for Miss Heartilly's room. Eventually he opened a door to a room that had to be his target.

Its walls were a deep red; the carpet worn and faded and two large glass panelled doors lead out onto a balcony. Trying to assess his target he took a quick glance around at her personal belongings. A stuffed dog cuddly toy sat by her pillow on the double bed and a photograph of a dog was hung above the headrest – the only decoration he noted.

Crossing to her wardrobe he opened the doors, looking through her clothes quickly and taking a photograph. Her pc desk was covered in pages of notes, one of which had Rinoa J Heartilly written across the top. She had a cupboard in one corner of her room, set into the wall, that he was surprised to find pretty empty. A guitar and violin leaned were leaned against the back wall.

Checking the timer he'd started as he'd ran up the stairs he noticed he was already seven minutes in, he didn't have much left. Glancing round, he sought places he could hide the cameras. They were tiny with only half a centimetre lens which enabled them to be hidden pretty much anywhere. He placed one beside her computer's speaker, underneath her monitor. Unless she ducked down and moved the monitor slightly she wasn't going to notice it. Another he attached to her bedside lamp, hidden by the shade, the next sitting amongst a heap of her jewellery – this one had the best view of the room. The last camera he took out onto the balcony where he entwined it in the vines growing up the side of the house, he had no idea whether she actually went out there at all but best it was covered just in case.

Checking the timer he noticed he'd almost reached the ten minute mark and hurried as quietly as he could back downstairs and out of the house. He'd only just climbed into the van and shut the door when Seifer excited the house.

Half an hour later found them once again sitting at the table in Squall's hotel room. He'd given up asking why it was always his room and come to live with it...reluctantly.

The elder man was quietly scanning through the photos of Rinoa's room on the digital camera whilst Squall was busy setting up the laptop's signal with the cameras he'd planted. After a few technical glitches he eventually got a clear, colour video through from all but one of the cameras.

"Doesn't look like a spoiled brat," Seifer conceded grudgingly.

Squall agreed albeit silently but then again, how much could you tell about someone from their room? He'd also given up trying to figure out what their contractor was really after and unusually they had been given no way of contacting them to ask.

"So princess is out until 17:00?" Seifer stood, "I'm outta here!"

* * *

17:00:

Squall watched the cameras the second it turned 17:00. It was 17:05 when Rinoa walked in, dropping her bag on the floor and sighing. There was only one microphone in the room and unfortunately it wasn't picking up sound too well.

She took a seat at her computer desk and turned her pc on before pulling her work towards her. Enlarging the pc camera's footage on his laptop he watched closely. So this was Rinoa, he thought, she was very attractive with her heart shaped face and raven locks. She was...cute, as much as he despised the word, not beautiful. Her features hadn't matured enough yet to be called beautiful but he suspected she would, be given a year or two. Rinoa was a decent dress and, judging by her approach to her studies, smart. He hoped that wasn't going to cause issues.

He watched her movements for hours, noting them down as he went. 17:05 – arrived home, 17:07 – studied, 18:00 – was called to dinner, 18:45 – arrived back from dinner/watched TV, 19:30 – read a magazine, 19:45 – phoned Selphie (SeeD?) – ranted about how she never does anything different, 20:00 – showered, 20:10 arrived back from shower/dressed. (Squall had averted his eyes at the point, occasionally peeking out the corner of his eye to see if it was safe to look.)

Seifer turned up shortly after and Squall let him take over, deciding he'd rather go eat than stare at the screen any longer. He grabbed a cheeseburger from a take-away nearby and wandered aimlessly for a short while before returning to his room.

It was 10pm and upon reaching his room he found Seifer staring at the monitor, a worrying grin on his face.

"What?" Squall asked warily.

"This is great material! She just stripped!" Seifer laughed, "I wonder if she's going to do some self-loving!"

Squall sighed taking the data sheet off of him, "What would it matter? You won't see anything anyway." Immediately after Rinoa switched her light off and the screen went black. He finished the sheet with 22:00 – Rinoa goes to sleep. "Wish we had more to go on than just one day."

"We're getting her tomorrow?" Seifer frowned.

"We have no choice. The maid will think it odd if you don't turn up to fix the gas for 3 days. We also have a deadline." He motioned to the contract.

"Right, I go back to do the gas, you sneak in to her room." He paused to see Squall's nod, "once we have her we need to disguise her." He flicked through the images of her clothing again, "Sports wear, I'd say. I don't see any here."

Squall shook his head, "But how do we get to her?"

"Chloroform." Seifer said simply as though that one word fixed everything, "Sleep on it! You'll think of something. Tomorrow morning I'll head to a contact, sort us out a place to lay low.

Having slept on it as ordered by Seifer, Squall had a plan. That afternoon as Seifer "fixed the gas" he hurried up to Rinoa's room. Starting at her wardrobe he pulled all of her clothes out and shoved them out of sight under the double bed. He then emptied her chest of drawers, the clothes once again going under the bed. Opening the last draw he pushed the clothes, a plain t-shirt and jogging bottoms that Seifer had bought that morning to the back of the draw. Trying to make it appear as though they were missed my mistake.

He then hurried round the room, retrieving all of the cameras but one that he'd planted the day before. If they'd left them they could have been traced back to Garden once they'd discovered Rinoa had disappeared.

They needed hiding places, a quick glance around told him there weren't many. He couldn't use the wardrobe he needed her to look in there. The cupboard with her instruments was the only space that Seifer could hide in with his height. He could hide under the bed but that might leave his back unprotected when he tried to get out. Balcony? Possibly.

He was just opening the glass door when his phone vibrated silently in his pocket. That was Seifer's queue. It meant that he'd left the building and moved the van two streets away, he would have a change of clothing now and be waiting by the front door for Squall to let him in.

It was half an hour later that they heard the guards arrive, ready to appear as though they'd been guarding all day. When they reached three minutes before Rinoa's arrival Seifer had climbed into the cupboard and Squall sat himself in the corner of the balcony that wasn't visible from the room, leaving the door ajar so he could hear what was going on, and holding a small screen that displayed the last remaining camera's video feed.

Squall groaned softly, his back complaining from the awkward position he'd been kneeling in for so long, as he returned his attention to the electronic screen he held. Rinoa entered her room with only a towel to cover her, Squall could almost see Seifer grinning. He watched her startled reaction as finding her wardrobe empty. She'd stared at it in confusion before hurrying to her washing basket.

His eyes widened slightly as she dropped her towel to the floor to dress in what little clothes she'd found. He'd had to fight the urge to look away, it was far too crucial a moment, he had to watch her every move or it could lead to disaster.

"A-ha!" He heard her yell as she found the planted clothes. Edging closer to the doors he peered in through the gap, watching as the last of her pale thigh disappeared beneath cloth. She reached for her phone and it was only a second later he heard it ringing. He tensed, listening hard.

"Come on, Selphie. Pick up." She'd barely finished Selphie's name before Squall had stood, shoving the screen in his pocket and grabbing the rag. Shit, he thought, it was now or never, she couldn't be allowed to make that call. He entered the room and quickly and quietly as he could but he'd noticed her sharp breath and then her body beginning to twist to face him.

Wrapping his right arm around her, he prevented her from turning, pinning her body against his as his left hand held the chloroform under her nose. It had to be long enough to render her unconscious but not so long that it would kill her and, unfortunately, there was a very fine line between them.


End file.
